


Chaos & Peace

by TheAceOfSades



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Ladybug - Freeform, MLB, Marichat, Romance, chat noir - Freeform, marinoir
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2019-08-08
Packaged: 2020-07-31 16:03:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20117785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAceOfSades/pseuds/TheAceOfSades
Summary: Being a superhero is hard enough while in high school, but being one in college while trying to hold onto scholarships and fashion internships is even harder. Marinette finally landed an internship in at the Gabriel fashion house while Adrien is finally being allowed to follow his passion for helping others. But with more responsibility comes broken promises and putting those they love in danger. And trying to protect them just might be hurting the person they love even more.





	1. Chapter One

The gold-encrusted, glass doors of the Gabriel Fashion House stared down at Marinette as if a monster ready to devour her. Her heart pounded deep within her chest, sweat laced her palms. She took a deep breath. Swallowed.

"Come on Marinette," she whispered to herself. "You're Ladybug, you've faced Hawk Moth more times than you can count. You can be an intern for Gabriel Agreste."

"You got this Marinette." Tikki's squeaky voice reached her ears from inside her purse.

Marinette smiled. "Thanks, Tikki."

With one more deep breath, Marinette set her shoulders and walked in.

The fashion house was buzzing with life. High heeled shoes clacked on the marble floor as people rushed in every direction with arm fulls of fabric swatches, sketched designs, and photoshoot mock-ups. Models were lined up at the front desk waiting for their go-see... And everyone was dressed in black.

She glanced down at her usual pink jeans and white floral shirt and frowned. Day one and she already failed in the fashion department.

"I should have listened to Alya," she mumbled.

Tugging on the edge of her shirt, Marinette padded over to the front desk. "Excuse me, I'm an intern. It's my first day and I'm not quite sure where to go," she said to the brunette woman typing furiously on her computer.

The woman waved a hand toward the elevators, clearly having more important things to do than pay attention to the dark-haired girl standing before her.

"Which floor should I—"

The woman stood from her seat and moved to the line of waiting models.

Marinette let out a huff, turned on her heel and marched toward the elevator. Or, at least she meant to before slamming into someone running past her and falling face-first to the ground.

"Oh no, I am so sorry." Strong hands reached down and helped her back on her feet. "Are you oka--Marinette?"

"A-Adrien!" Heat rushed to Marinette's cheeks. "What are you doing here?"

He scratched the back of his head and shrugged. "This is my father's fashion house. I have a photoshoot today."

"Of course, silly me. That was a stupid question. I don't know why I asked why you'd be here, of course you'd be here it's your dad's business and I'm sure you come here all the time because like you said it's your dad's fashion house and I..." She stopped rambling and slid a hand over her face.

A soft laugh. "Well, I'm glad you're okay. I have to go. But it was good to run into you."

"You too... literally."

Adrien waved and headed toward the elevator. Marinette watched as his shaggy blond hair bounced with each hurried step. 

"Um... earth to Marinette," Tikki said, her small head poking out from Marinette's bag. 

Marinette looked down at her bag and hissed, "What?"

"He could help you find out where to go."

"Who could?"

"Adrien."

She looked back up to where Adrien was entering an elevator. "Oh." She surged forward, dodging between the black adorned workers and slid between the closing elevator doors, stopping at Adrien's side.

She braced her hands on her knees, straightened, and smiled. "Say, maybe you can tell me where I need to go. It's my first day as an intern and I'm not sure where I need to check-in."

"You're this year's intern?" His emerald eyes grew wide.

She scowled. "Why the tone of surprise?"

Adrien blinked. "I'm not surprised," he said. "I'm impressed. It takes a special kind of person to get that job. It takes my dad weeks to decide who to hire each year."

A small ding and the elevator doors opened. Adrien's smile sent a trill into her heart.

"This way," he said, motioning her to follow.

Hallway after hallway she followed Adrien into the heart of the fashion house until they stopped between two desks set in front of Gabriel Agreste's office.

Marinette balked, unable to breathe as she stared at the glass double-doors. 

Intern. 

To Gabriel Agreste.

Gabriel Agreste's intern.

"This is Marinette," Adrien said to the striking blonde behind the first desk. "Marinette, this is Eloise. She was you... last year."

Marinette extended her hand. "Hey there."

Eloise raised a perfectly groomed eyebrow at the hand then turned her attention to Adrien. "It's been too long, Adrien. You should stop by to see me more often. Maybe we could go get coffee sometime too, after your shoots of course."

"Of course," Adrien said, backing away. He turned to Marinette and whispered, "Good luck." Then he was gone.

Marinette drummed her fingers across her legs. "So," she said, "where do we start?"

"We don't start anywhere," Eloise said, standing from her chair. "But you can start with sorting."

***

"Buttons?" Alya's raised voice hurt Marinette's ears even through the speaker on her phone. "You spent the entire day sorting buttons?"

"And ribbons," Marinette mumbled, slumping onto her bed. "But you're missing the point. I looked like a total idiot in front of Adrien."

"Girl, that's old news. You've been doing that for years." Alya's laugh made Marinette scowl.

"Alya!"

"All right, all right. Look. It's like I said the other day, we aren't in high school anymore, if you're going to be a major fashion designer, we have got to work on your confidence. It's time to step up your game. Let your hair down and mix things up a bit. Figure out who adult Marinette is."

"But I don't know how to mix it up," Marinette said, staring at the pictures of Adrien plastered to her wall.

"That's why you have an amazing best friend who will be there before class in the morning to help you out." 

"Thanks, Alya."

"Anytime."

Marinette hung up and tossed her phone onto the floor. Alya was right. She needed to find her confidence as Marinette.

"Ugh! What's wrong with me, Tikki," she asked, slamming her pillow over her face. "I never have a confidence problem as Ladybug. Why is it so hard for me as Marinette?"

Tikki squeezed underneath the pillow and placed a comforting hand on Marinette's cheek. "Marinette is Ladybug. You just forget when you're not wearing the mask. Maybe Alay is right. A little make-over might help you bring out that Ladybug confidence without the mask."

Marinette sighed. "I hope you're right, Tikki. I don't think I'll be able to survive at the Gabriel Fashion House if I don't."


	2. Chapter Two

Adrien crumpled up the test in his hands. Never in his life had he ever gotten a grade lower than an 'A-', and when his chemistry professor handed him his test back with a red 'F' on it...

He was better than this. Had to be better if he wanted any chance of getting into medical school. It was the deal he had made with his father years ago--Adrien would be allowed to study whatever he wanted as long as he kept his grades up and continued to model for the Gabriel fashion label.

"It's just one test score," Plagg said, poking out of Adrien's breast pocket. "You can still get an 'A' in class."

"I thought I knew the material, Plagg. What am I going to do?"

"You could start by not drawing pictures of you and Ladybug kissing in your notes."

Adrien pushed the kwami back into his pocket with a low grumble of denial.

Chucking the ball of paper into his bag, Adrien stomped toward the coffee kiosk outside the library, hoping a caffeine fix would put him in a good enough mood for the meeting about the winter fashion line he was already late for.

The barista gave Adrien a smile that he could not return.

"Bad grade?" the girl asked.

Adrien nodded.

"Then this one's on the house."

"Oh, I couldn't possibly accept--"

The barista waved him off. "Really. On the house."

"Thank you."

Large long black in hand, Adrien raced toward the Gabriel Fashion House weaving his way through the crowded street and down to the university metro station. Students rushed in and out of train cars, noses buried in their phones. He squeezed between the closing doors, sliding to a stop at the edge of the crammed car.

Station after station, the car filled with Parisians. Adrien kept his head down, eyes focused on his coffee with the hope that none of them would notice him. Recognize him. He let out a low sigh of relief as the metro pulled into his station. He pushed his way through the crowded car and stepped onto the tiled, underground floor. He sipped his coffee as he walked toward the stairs, allowing its heat to soothe his troubled thoughts.

Plagg was right. It was one bad score. Adrien could still get an 'A'... as long as he scored perfectly on every test form now on.

Lost in his thoughts, Adrien didn't notice the man rushing toward the metro cars before he rammed into Adrien. The collision caused his coffee to explode, drenching his shirt and jacket in a hot brown.

"I'm so sor--"

The man shoved Adrien and his apology aside and continued sprinting toward the closing doors of the train cars.

"Hey! What was that for?" Plagg's voice echoed from Adrien's pocket.

"You tell me." Adrien chucked his now empty cup to the ground and marched up the stairs to the busy street above.

He aimlessly wiped at his shirt, only spreading the dark stain more. The one day he decided to wear a white shirt... He dropped his hands to his sides, allowing himself to dissolve into the mass of people.

"At least this day couldn't get any worse," he grumbled to Plagg.

"Careful, Adrien. Most people regret those words."

***

Adrien regretted his words.

His father had glared at him through the entire meeting he was late to and yelled at him for it after. Eloise had eaten the lunch intended for Adrien, claiming she thought he wasn't coming. And on top of all that, Nino had canceled on the movie they were going to see that night--claiming Alya needed help with a news story for class.

At least Adrien had patrol with Ladybug that night. Seeing her always made him feel better... even if she still didn't return his feelings for her.

After almost three years of working side by side, she had become his best friend. The one person in the world he absolutely knew he could always count on. Trust.

Adrien wandered the halls of the fashion house, ignoring the stares and whispers that followed him and his coffee-stained appearance. Paying no attention where he was headed, he found himself in a hallway he didn't recognize. It was completely deserted, save for a single door cracked open at the end. He recognized the latest song by Jagged Stone spilling into the hallway and approached the ajar door.

The room was filled with buckets and containers teeming with buttons and ribbons, all sorted into bins by size and color. There was a larger bin on the floor half-empty with buttons of every shape and hue mixed in a rainbow of chaos.

"Adrien? What are you doing here?"

He turned around to find a midnight haired girl standing behind him. He was friends with her, had been for nearly three years now.

But she looked... different.

Her usual pink, floral attire was swapped for white high-tops, a black skater skirt, and a white Peter Pan colored shirt. And her hair—no longer tied tightly in pigtails, but gently curled and longer than he expected.

She looked... beautiful.

"A-Adrien?"

He cleared his throat, plastering a smile across his face. "H-Hey, Mari. Wow. You look great."

"Um... thanks," she said, cheeks growing pink as she looked down at the cardboard box in her hands.

"Not that you didn't look great before," Adrien said, his own cheeks growing warm. "I mean you did look great before, and you still look great now, but you look great and... ugh."

Marinette let out a small laugh, her bluebell eyes bright. "What brings you to this part of the fashion house?"

He shrugged. "I was just wandering around and ended up here, I guess. What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be helping Eloise and my father with the winter line?"

"Eloise told me to sort everything in this room."

"But you're this year's intern, you should be in the design meeting with my father."

Marinette shrugged. "This is what I was told to do. So, I'm going to do it better than anyone has before."

Adrien chuckled. "I'm not sure anyone's ever done it before."

"Then the intern behind me will have some pretty big shoes to fill."

He blinked. She didn't just look different... she was different. For the first time he could remember, she wasn't stammering over her words. She was confident. It was a familiar confidence—though he couldn't quite place from where.

The click of heels echoed in the hallway and Eloise appeared behind Marinette, barking orders. "Intern, Gabriel needs his afternoon coffee, if it isn't in his hand by four you'll... Adrien!"

Eloise pushed Marinette out of the way and nocked the box out her hands. Marinette lunged for the box, barely missing it.

Eloise ignored Marinette and turned to Adrien. "If you're done for the day, Adrien, I would be happy to go with you to grab some lunch. It really is unfortunate that someone ate your lunch. I'll make sure the proper action is taken to--"

Feathers drifted in the air, grabbing both his and Eloise's attention. They looked over at Marinette sprawled on the ground, covered from head to toe in the plume.

"Mari, are you--Aaachoo!" Adrien took a step backward stumbling over the bins of buttons and ribbons, scattering them in every direction. "Achoo!" More scattered buttons. "What did you d--achoo! You know I'm allergic to--achoo! feathers--achoo!"

Marinette brushed feathers from Adrien's hair. "I'm sorry. It was an accident, I didn't mean drop the box and when I tried to catch it I--"

Eloise pulled Adrien to his feet and shot dark glaring eyes at Marinette as she said, "Come on, Adrien. Let's leave the intern to her mess."

"My name is Marinette."

"Later, intern."

Adrien continued sneezing and brushing water from his eyes as Eloise dragged him back to the main office area. He ignored her ramblings of the 'incompetent new intern' and potential date ideas. He felt bad for leaving Marinette in the mess, but with the feathers, he wouldn't have been much help anyway.

Just a few more hours and he would be on patrol with Ladybug. He just had to last a few more hours.

Reaching his father's office once more, Adrien waved off Eloise with the intent to head to the elevator. But he paused at the sight of something on Marinette's untouched desk. A cup of still-warm coffee sat next to a neatly folded white shirt. It was his size. He twisted the coffee cup and found his name written across the front along with a note.

Hope this helps turn your day around. - M

When he finally found his way back to the room he'd left Marinette in, she was gone.


	3. Chapter Three

The sky was dark, and with the absence of the moon, the stars were particularly bright. They glimmered above Marinette, taunting her with their cheery light as tears flowed freely down her cheeks.

She rested her arms against the rail, eyes fixed on the mocking twinkle above. "What was I thinking, Tikki? I'm not cut out for this. I'm never going to make it as a fashion designer and Adrien is never going to see me as anything but his clumsy friend."

"I'm sure that's not true. You just have to keep at it. It's like when you first became Ladybug, you have to just keep trying until you get it right."

Marinette rested her head on her arms. "I hope you're right, Tikki."

Tikki placed a hand on Marinette's cheek. "You'll see, you'll be the best intern Gabriel has ever had. And as for Adrien—"

"Tikki," Marinette cur her off.

"Yes, Marinette?"

"I just need to be alone for a bit."

Tikki's large, round eyes drooped. But she nodded and turned to the trap door of the balcony. "I'll just be inside if you need me."

With Tikki inside, Marinette let out a soft sob, fresh tears lacing her cheeks. How could she have been so wrong about the internship? Only two days in and she knew she wasn't cut out for it. She didn't apply to work for Gabriel Agreste simply to be a button sorter--and if she couldn't even do that right, then there was no way she would ever make it as a fashion designer.

And then there was Adrien. The boy she'd been crushing on practically since they'd met. It had been three years and she still couldn't talk to him like a normal person. Sure, there were moments when they had full conversations, but those usually revolved around their friends or Ladybug and Chat Noir. She was his clumsy friend, and for the first time, she started to wonder if that's all she could ever be to him. For all she knew, he actually loved another girl. He seemed pretty close to Eloise--and maybe she was more his type: tall, leggy, high cheekboned, hourglass figure, long blond hair, obviously beautiful...

Marinette wasn't any of those things. And it only made sense that, that was the type of girl Adrien would like. Especially after growing up in the fashion industry.

A loud thud jerked her from her thoughts and she spun around. She placed a hand over her pounding heart and let out a sigh at the superhero standing before her. "Chat Noir! What are you doing here?"

"I'm not one to leave a crying princess alone in her tower," he said, a crooked smile across his lips. 

She wiped at the tears on her cheeks. "I don't know what you're talking about." She turned back to the rail and leaned against it. "There's no princess here," she said softly.

Chat joined her at the rail, resting his arms in mirror of her. He followed her gaze to the mocking stars above. "I wouldn't say that. Most princesses don't wear crowns, you know."

Marinette let out a scoff. "Most princesses get their prince." 

Chat turned to look at her. "Did someone break my princess's heart?"

She sighed. "Honestly, he's been breaking my heart since the day he lent me his umbrella."

"Umbrella?"

She faced him, meeting his shining emerald eyes. "It doesn't matter. Besides, I spilled feathers all over him, and he's allergic to them, and I left him some coffee and..." she let out a frustrated breath. "I made such a fool of myself. You'd think that after all of these years I'd have figured out how not to be a spaz around the guy I've fallen in love with."

"In love--"

"He practically ran away from me." she wiped at another tear that had escaped down her face. "But boys aren't the only thing going wrong today," she said with a sniff. "I'm sort of a walking disaster." She dragged a hand down her face. Why she was telling him all of this, she didn't know. He was her friend. Not just as Ladybug, but as Marinette too. Although their conversations through the years never got this personal. But he was her partner, and even with her mask on, she knew she could trust him.

"Are you kitten me, Mari?"

She choked on a laugh at his pun.

A crooked grin spread across his face. "It's impossible for a girl like you to be a disaster. I'm sure this guy, whoever he is, really appreciated the thought. If anything, I'm the disaster."

"You're a superhero with ridiculous amounts of bravado. It's impossible for you to be a disaster."

He shook his head and changed his focus to the glowing city below. "Yeah, a superhero who failed a chemistry test then got stood up by the one person he trusts the most."

Marinette's head snapped to him. "Stood up?"

He nodded slowly. "Ladybug was supposed to meet me to go on a patrol tonight. I was really looking forward to it, especially after the crappy day I've had."

Marinette looked down at her fingers, twisting them in every direction possible. After everything that happened at the Gabriel Fashion House, she had completely forgotten about going on patrol. And seeing how disappointed Chat was that she, Ladybug, didn't show up only made her feel worse. "I'm sure Ladybug has a very good reason for not making it tonight," she said. "I'm sorry she didn't show."

Chat straightened and faced her. "You don't have to apologize for Ladybug, Princess. If anything, I should be the one apologizing to you."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "For what? You've done nothing but try to cheer me up tonight."

He scratched the back of his head, a soft pink raising to his cheeks. "I just mean as a guy, I should apologize for the rest of the guys in the world being idiots. Because we all are... idiots, I mean."

Marinette laughed. "Thank you, Chaton."

He smiled. "Any guy would be lucky to have you fall in love with them, Marinette."

She looked down at the ground, warmth spreading across her cheeks. "Don't give up on Ladybug. Girls can be idiots sometimes too, you know."

"I'm counting on it." He winked at her and pulled his staff from his belt. "I need to get home and study for a test. But are you going to be okay?"

Marinette nodded her head, her unbound hair framing her face. "With a knight like you looking out for me? I couldn't be better."

Chat grabbed her hand and raised it to his lips. They were soft against her skin, sending a tingling warmth up her arm. "Until next time, Purrrrrincess," he said before extending his staff and disappearing into the night.

Marinette touched the spot on her hand where his lips had pressed into her skin and smiled.


End file.
